Caldeirão Verde levada walk, with a return transfer

The Levada do Caldeirão Verde is an irrigation channel the official trail sheet dates to the 18th century, cut along the valley cliffs of Madeira's wet north side, above Santana. The walk follows its edge through the laurel forest, the Laurisilva that UNESCO listed as a World Heritage site in 1999, to the Caldeirão Verde, the green cauldron: a pool at the foot of a tall waterfall, enclosed by rock walls. It is the island's trail PR9, and the official sheet puts it between 872 and 1,020 metres above sea level, so the path is close to level all the way.

The day starts with a hotel pickup at 06:00 or 08:00 in a shared van of up to 8 people. The operator drives you up through Santana to the Queimadas Forest Park, gives you the instructions, the return time and a digital map, and you walk at your own pace. The operator gives the walk as 13 km there and back and about 5 hours, with four tunnels cut through the rock, the longest about 200 metres. The path runs beside the channel all the way, and you can swim in the pool at the end, the operator says, if you bring swimwear. The van brings you back in the afternoon, about 8 hours after it collected you.

Since 2025 every classified trail on Madeira needs a timed slot booked on the regional government's SIMplifica portal. Visitors over 12 pay 4.50 euros for this one, and the slot is not part of the 42 euros: the listing tells you which entry slot to choose for your pickup, 08:00 to 08:30 with the 06:00 van and 09:30 to 10:00 with the 08:00 one, and the operator says it will reserve permits for guests who ask. On 26 October 2026 the regional forestry institute, IFCN, listed PR9 as open in its update of 2 October. The walk ends at the Caldeirão Verde: the stretch beyond it to the Caldeirão do Inferno was reported closed after landslides when the trail reopened in May 2026, and this tour does not go there.

The point of this product is the road. Queimadas is on the north side of the island, about an hour by car from the Funchal hotels in our Madeira edit, and the van takes that off your hands for 42 euros a head, with a 24-hour free cancellation. On 26 October 2026 it was rated 4.8 from about 1,300 reviews on GetYourGuide, with transport scored 4.8 out of 5. The nearest rival on the same trail is a guided version at 48 euros, rated 4.7 from about 200 reviews, which suits anyone who would rather walk with a guide than a map. The same price buys a transfer to the PR18 Levada do Rei, rated 4.8 from about 290, if you want a different levada.

Going alone costs more for one or two people: a daytime taxi from Funchal runs to about 65 euros each way on the meter by our estimate, and parking at Queimadas costs 2 euros an hour. Staying at Quinta do Furão in Santana is the exception: Queimadas is 15 minutes away, the van does not collect there, and a taxi plus the 4.50-euro slot is the simpler choice. If this is your first levada, our page on the classic levada, the guided Levada das 25 Fontes walk in Rabaçal, is the one to book first; this is the strongest second. For the laurel forest without a long walk, the west by jeep stops in the Fanal forest.